AI Drafter 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2022 (11) TMI 1096
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....Pothal, Chartered Accountants ORDER All these appeals have been filed by the domestic industry raising a concern that despite recommendations made by the designated authority in the final findings for imposition of antidumping duty under section 9A of the Customs Tariff Act 1975 [the Tariff Act] on articles exported by the exporters or producers to India at less than its normal value, the Central Government did not issue the notification for imposition of anti-dumping duty. The relief, therefore, that has been claimed in most of the appeals is that the office memorandum issued by the Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue, Tax Research Unit conveying the decision of the Central Government not to impose antidumping duty proposed in the final findings be set aside and a direction be issued to the Central Government to issue a notification for imposition of anti-dumping duty, based on the recommendation made by the designated authority. In few appeals, such an office memorandum has not been issued by the Central Government, though three months have expired from the date of publication of the final findings of the designated authority and these appeals are Anti-Dumping Appeal....
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.... portions of the conclusion drawn by the designated authority in the final findings are as follows: "176. After examining various submissions of the interested parties with regard to product under consideration, confidentiality, adequacy and accuracy of the application, questionnaire responses, selection of period of investigation, dumping margin determination, injury to the domestic industry, other factors allegedly causing injury to the domestic industry, the Authority notes that it has appropriately dealt with the issues raised in relevant paragraphs of these findings. After examining the submissions made by the interested parties and issues raised therein and considering the facts available on record, the Authority concludes that: (a) The Applicant constitutes domestic industry under Rule 2(b) of the Rules and considers that the application satisfied the criteria of standing in terms of Rule 5(3) of the Rules. (b) xxxxxxxxxxx. (c) xxxxxxxxxxx. (d) The Authority has calculated dumping margin on weighted average basis for all the responding exporters. (e) xxxxxxxxxxx. (f) xxxxxxxxxxx. (g) xxxxxxxxxxx. ....
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....rice indicated in column 7 of the table below, provided the landed value is less than the value indicated in column 7. No benchmark/reference price has been recommended for JSR Corporation, as injury margin for this producer is negative." (emphasis supplied) 5. An office memorandum dated 20.07.2021 was then issued by the Ministry of Finance to convey the decision of the Central Government not to impose anti-dumping duty. It is reproduced below: "Government of India Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue) Tax Research Unit Room No. 146(G), North Block, New Delhi, dated the 20th July, 2021 OFFICE MEMORANDUM Subject: Anti-Dumping Investigation concerning imports of "Acrylonitrile Butadiene Rubber (NBR)" originating in or exported from China PR, European Union (EU), Japan and Russia - reg The undersigned is directed to refer to your email dated 13th May, 2021 and the subject Final Findings issued by the Directorate General of Trade Remedies vide Final Findings No. 6/18/2020-DGTR dated the 12th May, 2021 in the subject antidumping investigation and to inform that the Central Government has decided not to impose the antidumping duty on imports of '....
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....lost market been taken over by the imports; (g) The DI was earning profit in 2017-18 are in significant losses during 2018-19 and Post POI: (h) The inventories of the PUC have increased significantly; (i) There is significant price underselling and price suppression due to imports of PUC. (j) On an overall basis, DI has suffered serious injury during POI due to increased imports." 7. An office memorandum dated 18.11.2020 was then issued by the Ministry of Finance to convey the decision of the Central Government not to impose safeguard duty. It is reproduced below: "Ministry of Finance Department of Revenue Tax Research Unit *** Room No. 146-G, North Block, New Delhi, dated the 18th November, 2020 OFFICE MEMORANDUM Subject: Minutes of the Board of Safeguard on Preliminary Findings in respect of Safeguard investigation concerning import of Single Mode Optical Fibre-reg. The undersigned is directed to refer to the Final Findings dated 21st August, 2020 issued by the Directorate General Trade Remedies in the case of Safeguard investigation concerning import of 'Single Mode Optical Fibre' vide F. No. 2....
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....that the margin of dumping has to be ascertained and determined by the Central Government, after such enquiry as may be considered necessary and the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules for the purpose of this section. 13. Section 9C of the Tariff Act deals with Appeal and sub-section (1) of section 9C is reproduced below: "9C. Appeal (1) An appeal against the order of determination or review thereof shall lie to the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal constituted under section 129 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962) (hereinafter referred to as the Appellate Tribunal), in respect of the existence, degree and effect of- (i) any subsidy or dumping in relation to import of any article; or (ii) import of any article into India in such increased quantities and under such condition so as to cause or threatening to cause serious injury to domestic industry requiring imposition of safeguard duty in relation to import of that article." 14. Section 8B of the Tariff Act deals with power of Central Government to apply safeguard measures and the relevant portion is reproduced below: "8B. P....
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....plied." 15. In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (6) of section 9A and sub-section (2) of the section 9B of the Tariff Act, the Central Government framed the 1995 Anti-Dumping Rules. 16. The duties of the designated authority are contained in rule 4 and the relevant portion is reproduced below: "4. Duties of the designated authority.- xxxxxxxxxxx (d) to recommend to the Central Government- (i) the amount of anti-dumping duty equal to the margin of dumping or less, which if levied, would remove the injury to the domestic industry, after considering the principles laid down in the Annexure III to these rules; and (ii) the date of commencement of such duty;" 17. Rule 2 deals with initiation of investigation to determine the existence, degree and effect of any alleged dumping. 18. Rule 6 deals with the principles governing investigation and it is reproduced below: "6. Principles governing investigations.- (1) The designated authority shall, after it has decided to initiate investigation to determine the existence, degree and effect of any alleged dumping of any article, issue a public notice notify....
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....gnated authority may allow an interested party or its representative to present the information relevant to the investigation orally but such oral information shall be taken into consideration by the designated authority only when it is subsequently reproduced in writing. (7) The designated authority shall make available the evidence presented to it by one interested party to the other interested parties, participating in the investigation. (8) In a case where an interested party refuses access to, or otherwise does not provide necessary information within a reasonable period, or significantly impedes the investigation, the designated authority may record its findings on the basis of the facts available to it and make such recommendations to the Central Government as it deems fit under such circumstances." 19. Rule 10 deals with determination or normal value, export price and margin of dumping and it is reproduced below: "10. Determination of normal value, export price and margin of dumping- An article shall be considered as being dumped if it is exported from a country or territory to India at a price less than its normal value and in such ci....
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....ed for and if so, the reasons therefor and date of commencement of such retrospective levy: xxxxxxx (b) Recommending the amount of duty which, if levied, would remove the injury where applicable, to the domestic industry after considering the principles laid down in the Annexure III to rules." 22. Rule 18 deals with levy of duty and the relevant portion is reproduced below: "18. Levy of duty.- (1) The Central Government may, within three months of the date of publication of final findings by the designated authority under rule 17, impose by notification in the Official Gazette, upon importation into India of the article covered by the final finding, anti-dumping duty not exceeding the margin of dumping as determined under rule 17." 23. Annexure-I to the 1995 Anti-Dumping Rules deals with the principles governing the determination of normal value, export price and margin of dumping. It provides that the designated authority while determining the normal value, export price and margin of dumping shall take into account the principles contained in clauses (1) to (8) of the Annexure. 24. Annexure-II to the 1995 Anti-Dumping Rules deals with t....
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....Final findings. - (1) The Director General shall, within 8 months from the date of initiation of the investigation or within such extended period as the Central Government may allow, determine whether,- (a) the increased imports of the article under investigation has caused or threatened to cause serious injury to the domestic industry, and (b) a causal link exists between the increased imports and serious injury or threat of serious injury. (2)(a) The Director General shall also give its recommendation regarding amount of duty which, if levied, would be adequate to prevent or remedy serious injury and to facilitate positive adjustment. (b) the level of tariff rate quota, if imposed as a measure, may be determined having regard to the following conditions, namely:- (i) maintaining traditional trade flow of the article over the representative period; (ii) the existing and likely demand supply scenario in the country; and Any other condition that may be considered relevant: Provided that the tariff rate quota applied shall not reduce the quantity of imports below that level of the recent period, which shall be th....
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....of final findings by the Director General under rule 11, withdraw the provisional duty imposed, if any." 29. It is keeping in mind the aforesaid legal provisions that the submissions advanced by the learned counsel for the appellants and the learned counsel for the private respondents, as also the learned authorised representatives appearing for the respondent Union of India have to be considered. Maintainability of appeal under section 9C of the Tariff Act 30. The submission advanced on behalf of the respondents is that an appeal under section 9C of the Tariff Act shall lie only against an order of determination or review thereof, in respect of the existence, degree and effect of any subsidy or dumping in relation to import of any article or import of any article into India in such increased quantities and under such condition so as to cause or threatening to cause serious injury to domestic industry requiring imposition of safeguard duty in relation to import of that article. Learned counsel underlined the significance of the aforesaid bold portion and submitted that the expression has been deliberately used by the Parliament in section 9C, unlike section 128 of the Cust....
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....allenged, which in the process gets set aside or modified, only to make the appellate remedy effective for the appellant. It is for this reason that the learned counsel submitted that it is only the final findings issued by the designated authority, acting on behalf the Central Government under section 9A(6) read with the 1995 Anti-Dumping Rules, that constitute an "order of determination in respect of existence, degree and effect of any alleged dumping". 31. Learned counsel for the appellants however, submitted that the office memorandum clearly conveys the decision of the Central Government not to impose any anti-dumping duty and, therefore, an appeal would lie under section 9C of the Tariff Act, for it is an order of determination in respect of the existence, degree and effect of any subsidy or dumping in relation to import of any article. The determination which is required to be made, in terms of section 9C of the Tariff Act, is by the Central Government and the word 'determination' qualifies the word 'order' thereby restricting the right of appeal to those orders which are determinative and final. In the case of a negative opinion, the recommendation of the....
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....of the recommendation made by the designated authority in the final findings and, therefore, an appeal would lie to the Tribunal under section 9C of the Tariff Act. 35. The submissions advanced by the learned counsel for the appellants and the learned counsel for the respondents on the maintainability of the appeal under section 9C of the Tariff Act have been considered. 36. The issue that arises for consideration is as to whether an appeal would lie to the Tribunal in a case where the decision of the Central Government not to impose any anti-dumping duty is conveyed through an office memorandum, despite a positive recommendation made by the designated authority in the final findings for imposing antidumping duty. It has also to be considered whether an appeal would lie to the Tribunal in a case where despite a positive recommendation made by the designated authority for imposition anti-dumping duty, the Central Government does not take any decision, which decision has to be taken under rule 18 of the 1995 Anti-Dumping Rules within a period of three months from the date of publication of the final findings by the designated authority. 37. It would, therefore, be necessary ....
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....mping determined under rule 17. 39. A perusal of section 9C of the Tariff Act, as amended on 01.08.2019, would show that an appeal would lie to the Tribunal against the order of the determination in respect of the existence, degree and effect of any subsidy or dumping in relation to import of any article. The word 'determination' qualifies the word 'order'. Thus, an appeal would lie only against such orders which are determinative and final in respect of the existence, degree and effect of any subsidy or dumping in relation to import of any article. 40. It would be useful to examine the meaning of the expression in respect of occurring in section 9C of the Tariff Act. It is defined in P. Ramanatha Aiyar's-The Law Lexicon 3rd Edition as follows: "In respect of. Seeing that; as regards. The expression "in respect of" is wider in its connotation than word "in" or "on". Therefore a class of municipal tax, though not a tax on the premises or buildings will nevertheless be a tax in respect of the premises or building used for the business. I.T. Commissioner vs. Chunilal, - AIR 1968 Pat 364 at 367." 41. It is, therefore, clear that the expres....
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.... mandated and required. Negative final finding order is determinative, and not a mere recommendation as in the case of positive finding proposing imposition of anti-dumping duty. 46. The Delhi High Court further pointed out that the Tariff Act uses the expression "Central Government'' and does not use the expression "designated authority" which expression is to be found and defined in the 1995 Anti-Dumping Rules, but the designated authority is nothing but part and parcel of the Central Government. The term "designated authority" has been used in the Rules for clarity in view of the two tier procedure in the form of objective and reasoned recommendation to be followed by further examination and issue of notification in the Gazette which is necessary to impose and levy any tax, including anti-dumping duty. The designated authority acts for and on behalf of the Central Government and has been bestowed with the powers vested and conferred on the Central Government under the Tariff Act. The designated authority, when it performs the functions under the Tariff Act, acts for and on behalf of the Central Government and not as an independent and a distinct third party. The role ....
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....e writ petition pending in the High Court and the High Court does have power to grant an interim relief at any stage of the proceedings subject to a case in that regard being made out. That is what the law is. The decision of the Central Government in the matter of anti-dumping duty is appealable and also subject to writ jurisdiction on well settled parameters of constitutional law." 50. An anomalous situation would arise if the contention advanced by the learned counsel for the respondents that an appeal under section 9(C) of the Tariff Act would lie only against the final findings of the designated authority is accepted. This is for the reason that in such a situation if a positive recommendation is made by the designated authority and the Central Government decides not to impose antidumping duty, which decision is communicated by issuance of an office memorandum, the domestic industry at whose instance the entire exercise was initiated would have no right to appeal and it will only be the foreign exporters or producers who would have the right to appeal if the Central Government accepts the recommendation of the designated authority and issues a notification for imposition of....
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....iff Act cannot also be accepted. It is the decision of the Central Government that would give a cause to a domestic industry to file an appeal since that decision is in respect of the existence, degree and effect of any subsidy or dumping in relation to import of any article. 55. There are two options that can be exercised by the Central Government when it receives a recommendation in the final findings of the designated authority for imposition of anti-dumping duty. It can either accept the recommendation and issue the notification for imposition of anti-dumping duty, in which case the foreign producers of the article or the importers of such article can file an appeal to the Tribunal to challenge the notification or the Central Government can take a decision not to accept the recommendation of the designated authority and an office memorandum is issued conveying the decision of the Central Government. In this latter situation there is no reason as to why the domestic industry should be denied the right to file an appeal to the Tribunal against this decision of the Central Government since it would be in respect of the existence, degree and effect of any subsidy or dumping in r....
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....his section. The Central Government has framed the 1995 Anti-Dumping Rules which contain an elaborate procedure regarding the principles governing investigation; the determination of normal value, export price and margin of dumping; the determination of injury; the disclosure of information; and the recording of final findings. Rule 18 provides that the Central Government may, within three months, impose upon importation into India of the article covered by the final findings, anti-dumping duty not exceeding the margin of dumping as determined under rule 17. 59. The contention of the learned counsel for the appellants is that the functions performed by the Central Government under section 9A of the Tariff Act read with rule 18 of the 1995 Anti-Dumping Rules are quasi-judicial in nature, while that of learned counsel appearing for the respondents is that the said functions are legislative in character. 60. This issue was considered by the Supreme Court in Reliance Industries Ltd. vs. Designated Authority- 2006 (202) E.L.T. 23 (S.C.) and it was held that the functions performed by the Central Government are quasi-judicial in nature and not legislative. The observations are as f....
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....t ousted by the anti-dumping provisions of the Tariff Act, that the Supreme Court observed: "48. There is in this case no challenge to the import policy allowing import of float glass and even if such a challenge was to be there it would hardly succeed. The grievance of the respondents is that import is being made at predatory prices. The challenge is to the actual import. But allowing such a challenge will amount to giving the MRTP Commission jurisdiction to adjudicate upon the legal validity of the provisions relating to import, which jurisdiction the Commission does not have. It is not a Court with power of judicial review over legislative action. Therefore, it would have no jurisdiction to decide whether the action of the Government in permitting import of float glass even at predatory prices is valid or not. The Commission cannot prohibit import, it's jurisdiction commences after import is completed and any restrictive trade practice takes place. 49. Customs duty on import of any goods is levied under the provisions of the Customs Tariff Act. The rate at which the import duty is to be levied is a matter of policy. The rate of duty is determined by the sch....
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....omestic industry on the one hand and the importer of foreign goods from the foreign supplier on the other hand. The determination of the recommendation of the designated authority and the notification on its basis is also subject to an appeal before the Tribunal. The Supreme Court opined that this would also make the proceedings quasi-judicial in nature. 66. What also needs to be noticed is that Delhi High Court in Jindal Polyfilm pointed out that there was no conflict between the opinion expressed by the Supreme Court in Reliance Industries and Haridas Exports, as they both referred to two different facets of legislation in question, which require both quasi-judicial adjudication and in case of positive finding, imposition of anti-dumping duty by a delegated legislative enactment in the form of issue of a notification. In this context paragraph 30 of the judgment of the Delhi High Court in Jindal Poly Film needs to be referred to and it is reproduced below: "30. Before us reference was made to the Supreme Court in Union of India and Anr. v. Kumho Petro Chemicals Company Ltd. & Anr., - (2017) 8 SCC 307 : 2017 (351) E.L.T. 65 (S.C.), where it was held that the exercise u....
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....ion of the Delhi High Court in Jindal Poly Film noticed that the Gujarat High Court in Alembic Ltd. had held that the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act and the Tariff Act operate in different fields and distinct spheres and there is no conflict between the two. 68. It needs to be remembered that there is a difference between the levy of customs duty and levy of anti-dumping duty. Although antidumping duty is levied and collected by the customs authorities, it is entirely different from the customs duties not only in concept and substance but also in purpose and operation. The main differences between the two are: (i) Conceptually, anti-dumping and the like measures in their essence are linked to the notion of fair trade. The object of these duties is to guard against situation arising out of unfair trade practices, while customs duties are a means of raising revenue; (ii) Customs duties fall in the realm of trade and fiscal policies of the Government, while anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures are trade remedial measures; (iii) The object of anti-dumping and allied duties is to offset the injurious effect of international price discrimin....
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....duals and it becomes necessary to fix the price separately in relation to such individuals. The Supreme Court also observed that there is a very thin line dividing the legislative and administrative functions but still it can be said that a legislative act is the creation and promulgation of a general rule of conduct without reference to particular cases, while an administrative act is the making and issue of a specific direction or the application of a general rule to a particular case in accordance with the requirements of policy. The relevant observations of the Supreme Court are as follows: "7. The third observation we wish to make is, price fixation is more in the nature of a legislative activity than any other. It is true that, with the proliferation of delegated legislation, there is a tendency for the line between legislation and administration to vanish into an illusion. Administrative, quasi-judicial decisions tend to merge in legislative activity and, conversely, legislative activity tends to fade into and present an appearance of an administrative or quasi-judicial activity. Any attempt to draw a distinct line between legislative and administrative functions, i....
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....udgment of the Supreme Court in State of Tamil Nadu vs. K. Sabanayagam and another - (1998) 1 SCC 318. 72. It would, therefore, be necessary to examine this decision of the Supreme Court in K. Sabanayagam. The issue that arose for consideration was whether the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 [the Payment of Bonus Act] will be applicable to the employees of the Tamil Nadu Housing Board during the relevant accounting year. In this connection, section 36 of the Payment of Bonus Act was considered by the Supreme Court and it is reproduced below: "36. Power of exemption.-If the appropriate Government, having regard to the financial position and other relevant circumstances of any establishment or class of establishments, is of opinion that it will not be in public interest to apply all or any of the provisions of this Act thereto, it may, be notification in the official Gazette, exempt for such period as may be specified therein and subject to such conditions as it may think fit to impose, such establishment or class of establishments from all or any of the provisions of this Act." 73. It is while exercising the aforesaid powers conferred under section 36 of the Payment of Bon....
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....ct would be a legislation falling in the aforesaid third category of the conditional legislative, the Supreme Court held that since the legislature had prescribed objective standards and had permitted the delegatee to grant exemption and to withdraw the benefit enjoyed by persons, the principles of fair play or consultation or natural justice cannot be totally excluded. The relevant portions of the judgment of the Supreme Court are reproduced below: "14. ****** It is thus obvious that in the case of conditional legislation, the legislation is complete in itself but its operation is made to depend on fulfillment of certain conditions and what is delegated to an outside authority, is the power to determine according to its own judgment whether or not those conditions are fulfilled. In case of delegated legislation proper, some portion of the legislative power of the Legislature is delegated to the outside authority in that, the Legislature, though competent to perform both the essential and ancillary legislative functions, performs only the former and parts with the latter, i.e., the ancillary function of laying down details in favour of another for executing the policy of t....
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.... 21. In the aforesaid first two categories of cases delegate who exercises conditional legislation acting on its pure subjective satisfaction regarding existence of conditions precedent for exercise of such power may not be required to hear parties likely to be affected by the exercise of such power. ****** 22. But there may be a third category of cases wherein the exercise of conditional legislation would depend upon satisfaction of the delegate on objective facts placed by one class of persons seeking benefit of such an exercise with a view to deprive the rival class of persons who otherwise might have already got statutory benefits under the Act and who are likely to lose the existing benefit because of exercise of such a power by the delegate. In such type of cases the satisfaction of the delegate has necessary to be based on objective consideration of such power. May be such an exercise may not amount to any judicial or quasi-judicial function, still it has to be treated to be one which requires objective consideration of relevant factual data pressed in service by one side and which could be tried to be rebutted by the other side who would be adversely aff....
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....sole discretion, nor can it be said to be exercising such power for binding uniformly the whole class of persons without benefiting one class at the cost of the other class of persons who are subjected to the exercise of such exemption power. It must, therefore be held that in such third category of cases of exercise of power of conditional legislation objective assessment of relevant data furnished by rival classes of persons likely to be affected by such an exercise cannot be said to be ruled out or a taboo to such an exercise of power. ****** In the case before us the legislation has prescribed objective standards and has permitted the delegate to grant exemption and to withdraw the benefit of the statute which is being enjoyed by the persons and in our opinion, in such a situation, principles of fair play or consultation or natural justice cannot be totally excluded. *******" (emphasis supplied) 75. Thus, even if it is assumed that the Central Government exercises legislative powers when it imposes anti-dumping duty or has taken a decision not to impose anti-dumping under section 9A of the Tariff Act, it would still be a piece of conditional legislation falling u....
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....ectively on facts. 77. The aforesaid decision of the Supreme Court in K. Sabanayagam was referred to with approval by the Supreme Court in Godawat Pan Masala Products I.P. Ltd. vs. Union of India and Others -(2004) 7 Supreme Court Cases 68. While examining the validity of notifications issued by the Food (Health) Authority under section 7(iv) of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 by which the manufacture, sale, storage and distribution of pan masala and gutka were banned for different periods, the Supreme Court, after referring to its earlier decision in K. Sabanayagam, emphasized that in the third category of conditional legislation, the satisfaction of the delegatee must necessarily be based on objective consideration, irrespective of whether the exercise of such power is judicial or quasi-judicial in nature. The authority has to objectively consider the relevant factual data pressed into service by one side, which can be rebutted by the other side adversely affected. The Supreme Court ultimately held as follows: "76. In our view, even if the impugned notification falls into the last of the above category of cases, whatever material the Food (Health) Author....
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....and nature of the reasons would depend on the particular facts and circumstances; (ii) Reasons should be clear and explicit so as to indicate that the authority has given due consideration to the points of controversy. Discretion, when vested in an authority, has to be excised in a judicious manner and the reasons for exercising discretion must be cogent and convincing and must appear on the face of the record. Discretion must also be exercised in accordance with the rules of reason and justice and should not be arbitrary, vague and fanciful; (iii) The principle of equality enshrined in article 14 of the Constitution must guide every State action while exercising quasi-judicial powers; (iv) The power, if exercised on non consideration or non application of mind to relevant factors, will be regarded as erroneous exercise of power; and (v) An authority has to act in accordance with and within the limits of the legislation with confers power on the authority to act." 81. In Jubilant Ingrevia Limited a similar office memorandum was issued conveying the decision of the Central Government not to impose anti-dumping duty. The Tribunal observed that t....
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....ld that reasons have to be recorded by the Central Government when it proceeds to form an opinion not to impose any anti-dumping duty despite a positive recommendation made by the designated authority in the final findings for imposition of anti-dumping duty. 83. Learned counsel for the appellants also submitted, in view of the decision of the Supreme Court in Punjab National Bank and others vs. Kunj Behari Mishra - (1998) 7 SCC 84, that in case the Central Government is prima facie of the opinion that the recommendation made by the designated authority for imposition of anti-dumping duty has not to be accepted, an opportunity is required to be given to the domestic industry to represent on the tentative reasons recorded by the Central Government for such disagreement. In connection with disciplinary enquiry, the Supreme Court observed as follows: "19. The result of the aforesaid discussion would be that the principles of natural justice have to be read into Regulation 7(2). As a result thereof whenever the disciplinary authority disagrees with the inquiry authority on any article of charge then before it records its own findings on such charge, it must record its tenta....
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....s under rule 17 of the 1995 Anti-Dumping Rules that the designated authority is required to, within one year from the date of initiation of an investigation, determine as to whether or not the article under investigation is being dumped in India and submit its final findings to the Central Government. Under rule 18, the Central Government may, within three months of the date of publication of the final findings by the designated authority under rule 17, impose by a notification in the Official Gazette, upon importation into India of the article covered by the final findings, anti-dumping duty not exceeding the margin of dumping as determined under rule 17. 86. In the present case, it is not in dispute that the final findings of the designed authority were published on 12.05.2021. In all the appeals except twelve appeals, reference of which is given in the first paragraph of this order, an office memorandum was issued by the notifying that the Central Government, after examining the recommendation, had decided not to impose anti-dumping duty. In twelve appeals, the appellants have stated that such an office memorandum was not issued. Learned counsel appearing for the Central Gove....